Oilers "3", Sharks 2 (SO) — Putting the "Sp" in "oilers"

Jeff Petry and Ryan Smyth celebrate after combining on the tying goal at San Jose Tuesday night.

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With so many teams involved in the annual playoff brawl, it is inevitable that even clubs playing out the string like the Edmonton Oilers will be involved in a number of highly meaningful games down the stretch. While local fans can only dream of the day such games will be meaningful to the Oilers themselves, these contests are nonetheless pretty good tests of high-stakes hockey. The team should feel pretty good about itself when it can take a bite or even two out of somebody’s playoff chances, and they can only do this by winning. The other teams cares little about whether the Oilers get a loser point, but an Edmonton victory is gonna hurt them no matter what.

So it was Tuesday night in San Jose, where the Oilers took on the increasingly-desperate Sharks. As the night wore on the home team suddenly found themselves outside the playoff bubble as the Kings, Avalanche and Flames all came up atop the out-of-town scoreboard. The Sharks were ultimately able to regain a tie for eighth by taking this one to overtime, but were unable to grab the second point when the Oilers came out on top in the shootout. That one lost point brings all three of their nearest pursuers one point closer in this morning’s standings.

This was a tight affair, as the score was tied for all but four of the 65 minutes. Each team briefly held the lead only to have the other quickly equalize. The Oilers struck early on a brilliant individual effort by Jordan Eberle, and later on a superb display of teamwork, swirling motion, improvisation and puck control that quickened the pulse. The Edmonites seemed to fade a little in the third, normal for a back-to-back, which was the time for their freshest player, goalie Devan Dubnyk, to shine. After a so-so opening 40, DD dammed the dike in the third (12 saves) and again in the shootout (3 more).

This was largely another even-strength game, with the Oilers receiving just 56 seconds of powerplay time (about average of late, what with 3:57 total PP time over the last four games now). The Sharks had but two powerplays of their own, but they overlapped such that San Jose got a 41-second 5-on-3 with the score tied midway in the third. The Oilers responded to this challenge with an outstanding display of penalty-killing that left Dubnyk little to do. The keeper answered the bell a few minutes later with a five-star save that surely would have decided things had it found the mark.

At the end of the night though, it was a trio of Oilers who first combined on the tying goal, then joined forces to kill that crucial 3-on-5, who earned top honours for delivering this unexpected win.

#4 Taylor Hall,5 – An “average” game for Taylor Hall still leaves room for a superb goal mouth pass, a rocket over the crossbar, and a dicey-looking crash into the end boards.

#5 Ladi Smid, 8 – His five most common opponents were, in order of ice time, Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Burns, Boyle, a.k.a. “The Vaunt”. He started way more often in his own end (8 times) than the offensive zone (5), yet when he was on the ice the Oilers outshot the Sharks 10-5 and outscored them 1-0, with Ladi earning an assist on the play. He played all but 28 seconds of that long, crucial penalty kill in the third, including the entirety of the 3-on-5. For the second night in a row he led the Oil in hits, with 5, one night after putting 7 on Getzlaf, Perry and That Vaunt down there in Anaheim with similar zonestarts and shots outcomes. Yet there he was in overtime, after 45 hardrock minutes over the two nights, romping around the offensive zone looking for a way to win the darn game. What’s not to like about Ladi Smid?

#6 Ryan Whitney, 5 – A decent bounceback game after what was a personal disaster for him in his old barn, er, Pond. Got an assist, and more importantly, a plus, right off the bat, although wound up just even on the night. Despite being heavily used in the offensive zone (10 starts to just 3 in the d-zone) the Oilers were outshot and outchanced in his even strength time. Did lead the team with a whopping 25½ minutes of ice time and was a whole lot less jittery and error-prone. Good things happen when he has clear possession and time to pick out a target.

#10 Shawn Horcoff, 5 – He and mates Jones and Eager did the bulk of the heavy lifting in zone starts while tasked with stopping San Jose’s second scoring line featuring Couture and Clowe. In typical Horcovian fashion he beat the puck square at times, and made some effective plays with it at others. Took a dumb penalty to cancel Oilers lone powerplay and ultimately set up the 5-on-3, which he watched hopelessly from the box.Played under 14 minutes, very low for him. Of course he used to rack up lots of minutes on special teams, way back in the day when there actually were special teams.

#14 Jordan Eberle, 6 – After scoring his 29th in the dying embers of last game, he wasted no time whatsoever in taking care of business and reaching his latest milestone. Ten seconds was all it took, a two-touch masterpiece in which he dispossessed a stumbling, fumbling Dan Boyle by flipping the puck up in the air to himself, then drilling a line drive right inside the far post. Just as casual as if he were hitting fungoes. Sick, sick hands on this kid.Showed them off ragging the puck for seconds on end a couple times, and on lightning-fast one-touches that retained possession for the Oil a couple others.

#15 Nick Schultz, 6 – Finally saw the player I thought I remembered from Minnesota. Played a very strong all-around game, with 10 defensive zone starts, 4 blocked shots, 3 hits, and a takeaway on the defensive side of the puck. At the good end he mustered five attempted shots and one superb diagonal pass which RNH subsequently dinged off the iron. By eye he won a bunch of battles, shook loose a few pucks for other Oilers to jump on, and advanced it decently himself when the time came. He too saw a lot of Clowe and Couture. If he plays like this every night I’m going to like Nick just fine.

#20 Eric Belanger, 5 – Had a rare off night in the faceoff circle, winning just 1 of 9 through two periods before recovering slightly to 4/13=31% on the night. No shots on goal, little impact on the game. I did like some of his work down low in Oilers zone.

#23 Linus Omark, 5 – Welcome back, Linus! Good to see the slick Swede, encumbered as he was on a line with Anvil and Anchor. The Oil generated three shots with Omark on the ice, all of which came from his own stick. Had one or two issues defensively, and some bad luck when his shoot-in hit the linesman, resulting in a jailbreak the other way.

#24 Theo Peckham, 4 – Welcome back, Theo! Showed his rust at times, a little slow reacting to the play or waiting for the puck to reach him rather than stepping towards it. Seemed like play was in Oilers end a lot when he was out there, in part because he started there an awful lot. Still, a -2 traditional and a shot count of 5 to 13 doesn’t inspire. Did bring some welcome enthusiasm and a few cycle-busting plays including three hits and four blocks.

#28 Ryan Jones, 5 – A member in good standing of the Plumb Line with Horcoff and Eager. Like Horcoff, took a silly penalty which sidelined him for the key PK which followed. Did manage to saw off with San Jose’s secondary toughs despite heavy d-zone starts. His Neilson numbers of all zeroes suggest he wasn’t too involved but at least didn’t hurt the team (other than that penalty).

#37 Lennart Petrell, 5 – Honest grinder ground honestly for eleven minutes, including one on the PK. He was second choice for the 3-on-5. Led forwards with three hits.

#40 Devan Dubnyk, 7 – I’ll freely admit to results-oriented thinking here. If the horrible goal he coughed late in the second to put Oilers down 2-1 had stood up as the winner, I don’t suppose I’d be thinking of him so charitably. Fortunately his team mates got that back for him within the minute, and from that moment to the end of the game DD was stellar. One bonus point for his excellent third period including a tremendous stop with four minutes left on a play that had death written all over it. A second for slamming the door in the shootout with three for three solid stops.

#44 Corey Potter, 4 – A little better, but no great shakes. He skated well but has an unnerving habit of wandering around in his own zone, not exactly the ideal complement for the ponderous Whitney in some respects. Was used in offensive situations (10 O-zone starts) but found himself chasing quite a bit, with Oilers being outshot and outchanced in his presence.

#55 Ben Eager, 5 – Was absolutely rocked twice in the early going by his former Sharkmates, and never seemed to gain the upper hand at any point thereafter. Just one hit of his own in 11½ largely uneventful minutes.Like mates Horcoff and Jones, started out behind the eightball a little, and broke even on the night, therefore far from useless.

#58 Jeff Petry, 8 – Pretty much everything in the Smid comment applies to Petry as well, as they shared the same tough minutes assignments against the same tough opponents with the same excellent results. Still gets himself into trouble on occasion, but is becoming extremely adept at making that trouble disappear just as quickly as it arose. Witness a splendid stick check that dispossessed a Sharks forward breaking clear behind him in the dying seconds of the second.Made a splendid play on the tying goal, cruising through the low slot, leaping to corral a deflected pass with his glove, then whirling and firing a dangerous shot on Niemi. Seconds later he was all the way back on the left point blasting a one-timer that caught some piece of Smyth on its way into the net. Was directly involved in 6 Oiler chances — more than any other Oiler, forward or defence — and just 2 against.

#83 Ales Hemsky, 7 – His game continues to come around, despite his perplexing inability to score. (I know, he’s a playmaker first, but FIVE goals?) Made several excellent plays on the sequence leading to the 2-2 goal, in which his “third assist” didn’t find the NHL scoresheet but certainly found our Oiler-centric one. Without his contribution that goal simply wouldn’t have been scored. Ales and linemates Smyth and RNH spent much of their ice time matched up against the Thornton group and came out on top.

#89 Sam Gagner, 6 – Favoured with offensive zone starts and offensive linemates. They clicked right away thanks to Eberle’s brilliant moment, and had other good sequences but also spent some time pinned in their own end. Sam struggled on the faceoff dot (6/17=35%) and had a bad giveaway that led directly to the first Sharks goal, but had many good moments in his own zone as well. Sam seems to be on the right side of the puck more often than not these days. Unfortunately his finishing touch was MIA in this one, as he misfired on a couple of two-footers. Ultimately found the range in the shootout, the only sniper on either team to do so.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6 – Was matched up against Jumbo Joe Thornton and not only survived but often thrived. Had some trouble with Thornton’s power game — as do about 95% of all NHLers — but used his smarts, his speed, and his quick stick to cut out a few thrusts. Did get lost in his own end on occasion when away from the puck. Was best of a poor lot on the faceoff dot at 4/8=50% on a night the team was just 22/60=37%. Made a number of excellent plays on the tying goal sequence, starting with a mid-air interception of a Sharks breakout pass that turned the play right back into the zone, then contributed a couple of passes and a lot of movement in the sequence that followed.

#94 Ryan Smyth, 8 – The best of the forwards corps, contributing at both ends of the rink. His pristine Nielson number of +5/-0 was the best on the club, and his four shots led the way as well. Some would attribute his goal to “luck”, but I put it down to percentages — you get in harm’s way often enough, occasionally harm is gonna hit you in the butt and bounce in. Ryan fared well against the Thorntons, and was a key contributor to that huge 3-on-5 kill, including a splendid shot block and zone clearance.

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Next up: Montreal @ Edmonton, Thursday March 8, 19:30 MST

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Ladi Smid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and mates had their hands full with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau on Tuesday but held their own nicely.

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